Emergency release mechanism for power-driven wringers



G. C. MAPELSDEN EMERGENCY RELEASE MECHANISM FOR POWER-DRIVEN WRINGERS July 22, 1952 2 SHEET -SHEET 1 Filed July 19, 1949 Inventor: e01 e C. Ma elsde'n,

/z 14/. His Atbovzze s. c. MAPELSDEN July 22, 1952 2,603,961 EMERGENCY RELEASE MECHANISM FOR POWER-DRIVEN WRINGERS Filed July 19, 1949 Inventor;

fi is Att- Patented July 22, 1952 EMERGENCY RELEASE MECHANISM FOR POWER-DRIVEN WRINGER'S George C. Map'elsden, Easton, Conn, assignor to General Electric Company, a. corporation of New York Application July 19, 1949, Serial No. 105,484

4 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved emergency control mechanism for clothes wringers.

The safety devices with which domestic 'power driven clothes wringers are equipped usually comprise means for releasing the roll pressure so as to cause the wringer rolls to fly apart, or for disconnecting the power drive; some wringers have coordinated mechanisms in which one action initiates the other. Generally speaking, the presently most popular types of emergency mechanism are actuated by strike bars or the like disposed on each side of the machine, and when pushed or pulled, the bars trip a latch or the like to operate the safety controls. More recently, emergency release systems have been associated with the swingable mounting of'the conventional wrirrger so that when the operator pulls or pushes on the wringer sufliciently to rotate it through a small arcan instinctive action under emergency conditions-appropriate safety mechanisms are operated. .These instinctive controls have definite advantages, and yet the push-bar types have been o commonly used as to make it dangerous abruptly to change the safety control from the more conventional to the newer system.

It is an object of my invention to provide an improved instinctive safety wringer control supplementary to release mechanisms of the push-bar type, thereby combining the advantages of the push bar and instinctive systems.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved safety wringer control of the .instinctive type which may be applied to wringers having the conventional push-bar release, with a minimum of structural change and without in any way interfering with the operation of said conventional release.

It is a further object of the invention. to provide a Wringer construction in which movement of the wringer through a small are either direction will immediately disconnect the drive mechanism, following which the roll pressure may be released by operating the more familiar push bar.

In accomplishing these objectives I apply the release mechanism to the drive clutch and cause the swing of the wringer frame when pushed or pulled to trip a latch which has held the drive clutch in driving position against the pressure of a spring urging it constantly to neutral position. In a presentlypreferred embodiment, the trip means includesa rod atta'ched' to the existing clutch latch, and arranged to be driven by either of a pair of devices pivotal-1y supported on the wringer post and operatively engaged by an actuator as the 'wringer is rotated about its supportin post. suitable means are provided to permit the actuator to be moved temporarily to an inoperative position to permit the wringer head to be swung purposely to a desired work position. There is no conflict with the push-bar control system, and .my invention is therefore featured by an interlockingoi controlswhic'h'provides for stopping the wringer drive either by rotating the entire wringer through a small are or by the actuation of a conventional push bar or equivalent.

Other features and advantages of the inven tion will be apparent from thefollowing specification considered with respect to the accompanying drawings which Show an embodiment of my invention as applied to a standard commercial wringer having a push bar safety control. In the drawings Fig. 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, showing the wring-er and safety controls in neutral position; Fig. 2 is a View of the wringer with the top frame cover removed; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevation showing the release means of my invention in a neutral position; Fig. 4 is a similar view but showing an operative position of the release means; Fig. -5 is a plan view of the release means looking in the'direction of the arrows '55 of Fig. 3; Fig. -6 is a plan section taken on "the lines 68 of Fig. 1; Fig. 7 is a purposely distorted perspective of the conventional :clutch I and pressure release mechanism, "to which my invention has been applied; and Figs. "8 and 9 are somewhat schematic operational details showing the operation of the clutch control cams.

I have chosen to illustrate my invention as .ap-

plied to a wringer disclosed and claimed in Patent No. 2,336,233, issued December "7, 1943, to G. W. .Dunham for Wringer and assigned to the assignee-of the present invention. Such wringer comprises a frame having sidestiles 'I and 2 suitably secured to a bottomirame memberx3. Drainboards '4 are removablyaifixed at each side of the wring-er. Upper and lower wringer rolls 5 and '5 are journaled in suitable blocks slidably carried spring 18 provides for establishing a desired spring pressure. The top frame is releasably connected to stile 2 by means including a link I5 pivotally attached at IE to said stile and a link I! pivoted to the top frame by a hook l8, and affixed to link at pivot 28. Link ll provides a cover for the end of the wringer, as shown in Fig. 2. The organization is such that in the Fig. 1 position the reaction forces of spring l5 tend to break the linkage outwardly, that is, to the right of Fig. 1, and thus cause the top frame to fly upwardly and release the upper roll.

Links 15 and H form a toggle which is held in home position by a latch 2! comprising a bell crank pivoted at 22 to the side'stile 2 and having a notch 25 engageable with the pivot pin 26. The latch therefore releasably secures the linkage in an unstable position. A latch release actuator 24 pivotally attaches to latch 21 and to a cam lever 25 carried on a shaft 25 journaled in bosses 27, 28 projecting from the wringer head I4. A spring 35 attached between lever 25 and a pivot. stud 3| draws the actuator 24 leftward of Fig. l to hold the latch in securement position. a

Release of the latch 2| is accomplished by pushing on either of handles 32, 33 affixed to a shaft 34 which is suitably supported by the wringer head so as to be both rotatably and axially movable with respect thereto. A spool 35 having enlarged end flanges is fixed to shaft 34. Said flanges confine a pin 38 extending downwardly through an arm 31 pivoted to a head post 53 as on the pivot pin 3!. Lever 25 is provided with divergent wings 45, 4! which form cams between which rides a roller 42 on arm 37. When one of the handles is pushed the axial movement of shaft 34 will cause spool 35 to rotate arm 31 and the roller 42 will engage with one or the other of the wings and cam the lever 25 clockwise of Fig. 7. Link 24 will be driven to the right, to rotate the latch 2| to release position. Movement of shaft 34 is limited by the engagement either of pin 43 with boss 21 or spool 35 with boss 28 according to which of the handles is pushed. As the handle is released the reaction of spring 35 will cause the cams 48, 4! to act on roller 42 and returnthe shaft 34 to its normally centered position. This toggle linkage may be restored by grasping the link ll and rotating it downwardly of Fig. 1 until the pin again seats within the notch 23.

The handles 32, 33 are used also to shift the drive mechanism from neutral to forward or reverse. A crown gear 45 journaled in the head 54 is connected by a coupling 45 to the shaft of lower roll 6. A gear shift 41 provided with drive pins 43, 49 is rotatably supported in the wringer head and has a clutch member 55 which engages a drive shaft 5| suitably supported within the wringer post 52. Slidably mounted on shaft 4? and in continuous mesh with the gear 45 are the pinions 53, 54 which are held in fixed spaced relationship by a shift fork 55 the ends of which ride in grooves provided in the pinionsas indicated in Fig. 1. The respective gears have clutch collars 55, 5'! respectively engageable with the drive pins 48 or 49 according to whether the shift fork 55 is moved downwardly or upwardly. It will be apparent that according to which of the pinions becomes drivingly connected to the shaft 41 the crown gear will rotate in one or the other direction. The shift fork is affixed to a shift bar 58 which is suitably guided for vertical movement within the wringer head. Fork 55 is urged constantly toward a neutral position as shown in Fig. 1 by means such as a suitably confined spring 50 which cooperates with lugs 5! extending from the bar 58.

The shift mechanism is best understood from Fig. 7 which has been distorted so that the respective parts will more clearly appear. A bell crank 62 is pivotally mounted on a shaft 53 secured within lugs or bosses 54 projecting from the wringer head. One end of said crank is rounded to fit within a slot provided in the upper end of shift bar 58 and the opposite arm of the crank has a forked engagement with a pin 65 secured to and projecting from a cam 66 freely and rotatably mounted on the shaft 34. The cam 66 is connected with a cam 51, keyed to the shaft 34, by means of a pin 88 extending into an elongate slot 10 in cam 67. Rotatably mounted on the shaft 53 and biased by spring 1| into rotation clockwise of Fig. 1 are identical detents vH2, 78. Detent 13 has a notch 14 for cooperation with the peak 15 formed on the cam Bl. Said peak establishes the neutral position, as shown in Fig. '7. In said position it will be noted that the detent notch is engaged with the central peak 15 in which position the detent i2 is above the rise 15 of cam 66 and the pin 65 has moved the bell crank so as to place shift bar 58 in its neutral position. In this position, the handles 32, 33 are horizontal. When either handle 32 or 33 is rotated downwardly 0r upwardly, cam 51 is similarly rotated and the detents i2, 13 will be rotated counter-clockwise because of the camming action of the peak 15 against the divergent walls .of the notch 14. The initial rotation of cam 61 is effective only to raise the detents 72, 73 because of the lost motion connection between the cams 66 and 6? provided by the slot 70; the initial movement of the handle does not effect a shifting of the clutch fork 55 from neutral. Further movement, however, brings the end of the notch 10 against the pin 68 to rotate the cam 66 and eventually one or the other of the detent surfaces of detent 12 will ride over the edge of the rise 16 to secure cam 66 ineither the Fig. 8 or Fig. 9 position according to the direction of rotation of cam 51. The resultant movement of the bell crank 62 is one or the other direction causes the appropriate shift of the clutch fork 55 to one of the driving positions.

The release of latch 2| also declutches the drive gears through the agency of a slotted bracket 11 fixed to top frame member H and through which extends the hooked end I8 of the detents 12, 73. It will be obvious that as bracket 11 moves upwardly with the frame member, the detents are lifted to permit the spring 50, freed for return to neutral position, also to move the shift bar 58 and associated elements to neutral position.

The foregoing construction is as shown in said Dunham'Patent No. 2,336,233 and forms no part of the present invention. I

The rotatable mounting of the wringer on the wringer post is conveniently accomplished by a secs-per look bolt and an extension 81 thereof draws-the lock "bolt downwardly to the limit of the-slot 80 provided therein. A shift handle is pivotally mounted within ears 9| of the wringer head extensional? and projects beneath a lug 03a extending from the lockbolt 8-3. When it is desired to'rotatethe wringer to another index position the lever 90 must first be 'depressed to raise the tongue 86 out of the index hole.

Because of the relatively close fit of the tongue 84 within" an index hole, any rotation of the wringer about its post 52 without first disengaging the lock bolt will rotate the bolt about its pivot 86 according to the direction of rotation of the wringer. Advantage is taken of this movement to release the wringer drive mechanism by means of a latch release rod 92 connected to either or both of the detents I2, 73 was to lift them from thecams 65,01 and permit the clutch shiftspring 60 to bring the shift fork to neutral. I prefer to use a lever'system to lift rod 92'rather than a two-lobed cam, for example, which would be a mechanical equivalent, because I can convenient- 1y derive a' greater lift for a relatively small arc of rotation of the wringer. Accordingly, I employ in association with rod 92, the rod actuators 93R, 93L; mounted one on theother and pivotally attached to the wringer head on the stud 89. The actuators are substantially identical bell cranks,

and in the illustrated embodiment comprise a rigid J-shaped member the vertical portion at of which terminates in the respectively forwardly and rearwardly extending ears 95, 96 as best shown in Fig. 5. The base portions 91 have forwardly projecting terminals 90. The rearwardly extending ear 90 of each actuator is adjacent the side of the bar 83 and by suitable means the actuators are drawn toward each other on their common pivot 86 to a normal position in which the respective ears 96 engage with the walls of a boss 99 projecting from the member 00. The positioning means may comprise a spring individual to each actuator and applied at any point which will provide the necessary rotation, but I prefer to use a coil spring I secured to and extending between the ears 95, because a balanced action is thereby assured.

It will be apparent, however, that the torque of the drive shaft tends to rotate the wringer post unidirectionally about post 52. The torque increases with the load on the wringer, and is a substantial factor under conditions wherein a bulky or lumpy article is being passed through the wringer. The spring bias of the respective actuators must be established with this in mind; and in this one respect, individual springs rather than the single spring I00 may be advantageous in that one actuator may thereupon be given a greater bias than the other. However, the difference in bias may be accomplished by using the single main spring I00, supplemented at the actuator responsive to the torque effect by a spring I02, arranged as shown. The cumulative bias of springs I00 and I02 may be selected so as to constitute an emergency release operator responsive to a predetermined amount of wringer load.

The terminals 98 lie in the same plane and are immediately beneath the horizontally extending bottom member of the latch release rod.

-'It will be understood that the release rod 92 is suitably supported in the wringer head I4 for uided vertical movement relative thereto. Pushing or pulling against any portion of the wringer ,will cause the wringer head to swing on its between the structures.

6 post with the resulting rotationof" the lock 83 and the corresponding rotation of one of the lifters 93R, 93L. Such rotation will cause the appropriate terminal 98 to engage with and lift the rod 92, thus lifting the detents I2, 13 out of their detent position to permit the spring 00 to drive the shift fork 55 to its neutral position and declutch the wringer drive mechanism. This instinctive action in the emergency thus immediately stops the drive'of the rolls; and then, according to the nature of the emergency the operator may push on the convenient handle32 to release the frame latch or may merely manual- 1y throw the handle to reverse drive position so as to withdraw the article from the wringer rolls. An operator who has been familiar with only the push-bar types of release will have no difficulties with wringers additionally equipped with the present invention, because there is no conflict The latch release rod 92 is movable independently of the respective actu'ators 93R, 93L, and the latch releasing operation by bracket 11, hereinbefore described, is unimpaired.

I- consider a great advantage of the present invention to be that the power drive may be declutched by one who may not be able immediately to reach the release handles 32, 33; 'for example, one standing near the wringer and seeing that a child is in danger of being caught by the rolls may prevent injury by striking the wringer frame to operate the clutch release if he could not immediately reach the handles 32. Then with the immediate danger past, the roll pressure release mechanism may be actuated.

While I have shown a particular embodiment of my invention, it will be understood, of course, that I do not wish to be limited thereto since many modifications may be made; and I therefore contemplate by the appended claims to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letter Patent of the United States is: g

1. A clothes wringer swingably mounted on a support structure, said wringer comprising a' drive unit having a clutch 'biased to declutching position, latch means for holding said clutch in clutched position, and means for releasing said latch means upon swinging said wringer about said support structure, comprising a lever pivotally carried by said wringer and engaging said support structure to be rotated when the wringer is swung, a pair of bell cranks pivotally mounted on said wringer in oppositely disposed relationship, a terminal of each bell crank being positioned for engagement by said lever to be rotated thereby and another terminal of each bell crank having ends positioned in a common plane, means connected with said bell cranks for biasing them to predetermined positions, and a latch release rod connected to said latch means having a bottom member positioned over said bell crank ends whereby when said wringer swings in either direction relatively to said support structure, one or the other of said bell cranks will actuate said rod to release said latch means.

2. A clothes wringer swingably mounted on a support structure, said wringer comprising a drive unit having a clutch and means for declutching said drive unit upon swinging said wringer about said support structure, said means including a pair of bell cranks pivoted on said wringer in oppositely disposed relationship, an actuator extending from said support structure between the bell cranks for selective engagement with and rotation of one or the other'of said bell cranks according to the direction of rotation 3. A clothes wringer having a frame with wringer rolls journaled therein, a unidirectionally rotating power shaft, a clutch mechanism for connecting said shaft to one of said wringer rolls to drive the same, said clutch mechanism being biased to neutral position, latch means for releasably securing said clutch mechanism in driving position, a supporting post for said frame, means for mounting said frame swingably on said supporting post, and means responsive to rotation of said frame relative to said post to declutch said clutch mechanism comprising a pair of bell cranks pivoted on said wringer frame, means biasing said cranks to a normal position, comprising a first means biasing both of said cranks and a second means biasing a single one of said cranks thereby to effect a greater bias on one crank than on the other, an actuator extending from said supporting post for engagement with one or the other of said cranks, according to the rotation of said frame, to rotate 8 said crank, and latch release means responsive to rotation of either of said bell cranks to release said latch means.

4. A clothes wringer according to claim 3, in which said bell crank biasing means includes a spring common to said bell cranks and a second spring individual to one crank, the joint action of said common spring and said second spring effecting a stronger bias on one crank than on the other.

GEORGE C. MAPELSDEN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES Number Name Date 2,216,398 Kaufiman Oct. 1, 1940 2,336,233 Dunham DecJI, 1943 2,342,259 Etten Feb. 22, 1944 2,359,834 Fields Oct. 10, 1944 2,369,333 Bottinelli Feb. 13, 1945 2,435,536 Ferris Feb. 3, 1948 2,446,477 Kaufi'man Aug. 3, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 624,628 Great Britain June 14, 1949 

